Guelph, ON – A new course beginning in January aims to open more doors for women to management and leadership positions in Canada’s agriculture and agri-food industry. The Empowering Lasting Leadership Excellence (ELLE) program, offered by Agri-Food Management Excellence (AME) Inc., is designed by women for women. It promises to be an inclusive leadership building experience with a focus on developing technical skills to improve business management while building a network through cohort learning.
AME has been delivering management courses to Canadian farmers and people working in the agriculture industry for nearly a decade. Its flagship program, CTEAM, helps farmers develop strategic and operating plans for their farm business. Other courses include Price Risk Management Using Futures & Options and Managing Investment Costs of Machinery. All AME programs are designed to develop and strengthen farm business management skills to empower farmers and agricultural industry leaders to realize their vision. The ELLE program follows this mandate with an emphasis on improving leadership capacity for women.
The ELLE program will be delivered over 12 months, beginning January 2022, across Canada. Participants will be able to gather in person at regional meeting spaces to attend virtual speaker presentations. As a national program, additional virtual events will allow ELLE participants to connect, interact and learn with other women locally and across the country.
To accommodate participants’ different levels of experience, course components are divided into two streams: one for those just getting started with a few years of experience, and the advanced stream, for those who have more than five years of experience. Course topics include strategy, finance and risk management, marketing and branding, communication and leadership. AME welcomes diversity by encouraging women of all ages and backgrounds to get involved in the ELLE program.
“Agriculture is changing rapidly and growing,” says Heather Broughton, president of AME. “Women are actively involved in an ever-increasing number of leadership, management and ownership roles in farming and value-added enterprises. The ELLE program will provide opportunities in skill development and networking for all women entrepreneurs in agriculture and agri-food across Canada.”
Source : AME